Conflict
 Conflict Defined
– Is a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about.
• Is that point in an ongoing activity when an interaction “crosses over” to become an interparty conflict.

– Encompasses a wide range of conflicts that people experience in organizations
• Incompatibility of goals • Differences over interpretations of facts • Disagreements based on behavioral expectations

Transitions in Conflict Thought (cont’d)
Human Relations View of Conflict The belief that conflict is a natural and inevitable outcome in any group. Interactionist View of Conflict The belief that conflict is not only a positive force in a group but that it is absolutely necessary for a group to perform effectively.

Stage III: Intentions (cont’d)
Accommodating The willingness of one party in a conflict to place the opponent’s interests above his or her own. Compromising A situation in which each party to a conflict is willing to give up something.

Bargaining Strategies
Distributive Bargaining Negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources; a win-lose situation. Integrative Bargaining Negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can create a win-win solution.

Why American Managers Might Have Trouble in CrossCultural Negotiations

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Italians, Germans, and French don’t soften up executives with praise before they criticize. Americans do, and to many Europeans this seems manipulative. Israelis, accustomed to fast-paced meetings, have no patience for American small talk. British executives often complain that their U.S. counterparts chatter too much. Indian executives are used to interrupting one another. When Americans listen without asking for clarification or posing questions, Indians can feel the Americans aren’t paying attention. Americans often mix their business and personal lives. They think nothing, for instance, about asking a colleague a question like, “How was your weekend?” In many cultures such a question is seen as intrusive because business and private lives are totally compartmentalized.
E X H I B I T 14–8 14–29

Third-Party Negotiations
Mediator A neutral third party who facilitates a negotiated solution by using reasoning, persuasion, and suggestions for alternatives. Arbitrator A third party to a negotiation who has the authority to dictate an agreement.

Conflict-Handling Intention: Collaboration
 To find an integrative solution when both sets of concerns are too important to be compromised.  When your objective is to learn.  To merge insights from people with different perspectives.  To gain commitment by incorporating concerns into a consensus.  To work through feelings that have interfered with a relationship.

Conflict-Handling Intention: Compromise
 When goals are important but not worth the effort of potential disruption of more assertive approaches.  When opponents with equal power are committed to mutually exclusive goals.  To achieve temporary settlements to complex issues.  To arrive at expedient solutions under time pressure.  As a backup when collaboration or competition is unsuccessful.